How Ethiopia’s Amhara breadbasket became its biggest challenge
Posted: 23 Aug 2023, 15:42
The conflict between the Ethiopian government’s forces and the Fano militia in the Amhara region was triggered soon after a November 2022 peace deal between the government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) to end a devastating two-year civil war in the north of the country. Instead of being welcomed unanimously as a war-ending pact, it was almost immediately questioned by the Amharas who said they had been excluded from the talks, while TPLF remains fully armed.
The final straw seemed to be when Prime Minister Abiy proposed that all regional special forces should be integrated into the federal army and police force to boost ethnic unity. The Amharas saw that as leaving them vulnerable to future attacks from Tigray and have pushed back. Most observes belive that this move is a pretext by the Abiy administration to subjugate the Amhara people.
Earlier this month Abiy introduced a state-of-emergency in the province and conducted a “law enforcement operation” against the Fano militia. There has been growing resistance from the Amhara region with allegations of an attempt to weaken its power against the Tigray regional government with recurring boundary disputes.
The protracted conflict has disrupted supply chains and blocked critical overland trade routes that keep Amhara’s marketplaces alive. The region is an important breadbasket for Ethiopia and prices of staple food have risen sharply since the outbreak of this latest conflict. The cost of teff, the main grain used to make injera bread, is estimated to have almost doubled in the Addis area, according to recent media reports.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/ethiopia-amh ... 52042.html
The final straw seemed to be when Prime Minister Abiy proposed that all regional special forces should be integrated into the federal army and police force to boost ethnic unity. The Amharas saw that as leaving them vulnerable to future attacks from Tigray and have pushed back. Most observes belive that this move is a pretext by the Abiy administration to subjugate the Amhara people.
Earlier this month Abiy introduced a state-of-emergency in the province and conducted a “law enforcement operation” against the Fano militia. There has been growing resistance from the Amhara region with allegations of an attempt to weaken its power against the Tigray regional government with recurring boundary disputes.
The protracted conflict has disrupted supply chains and blocked critical overland trade routes that keep Amhara’s marketplaces alive. The region is an important breadbasket for Ethiopia and prices of staple food have risen sharply since the outbreak of this latest conflict. The cost of teff, the main grain used to make injera bread, is estimated to have almost doubled in the Addis area, according to recent media reports.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/ethiopia-amh ... 52042.html